2018 Clamming TidesDeparting out of Ninilchik, Alaska

Razor-Clam Charters:

Our Cook Inlet Clam-Digging Charters are available on days when the minus tides are -3.0 and lower. We depart by boat from Ninilchik a few hours before the lowest level of the minus tide and boat across the Cook Inlet to the west-side beaches. On arrival, each guest is issued a 5-gallon bucket and clam digging shovel, with instructions on how to dig razor-clams. Enjoy the awesome scenery of the surrounding towering peaks of the Alaska mountains, and wild sealife as you fill your buckets to the brim with giant razor clams. When the beaches are once again flooded with the clean cold waters of the returning tide, you will return back to Ninilchik in anticipation of cleaning and preparing these tasty Pacific clams. This is a great outing that you won’t want to miss out on if your vacation dates coincide with the available minus tides.

Smaller than a dollar bill and about an inch and a half thick, razor clams, or razors as they’re referred to, are one of the most highly sought-after Pacific seafood’s.

Dug on uncovered beaches at very low tides (See table below), the clams are harvested in a narrow window of roughly one hour before and one hour after low tide. Digging involves a specialized technique in order to avoid breaking the shell, requiring more skill than just finding a clam hole or 'show' and moving a little sand to expose the bivalve; razors unlike most Pacific clams are quite mobile and often escape from slower, or less experienced diggers.